Ever wonder what goes into creating an Olympic gymnastics floor routine? Choreographer and gymnastics judge Nicole Langevin joins us to explain some of the required elements and how gymnasts pack them into a minute-and-a-half.
Theater collaborators Gordon Leary and Julia Meinwald have brought the Olympics to the stage in the new musical "The Magnificent Seven," which tells the story of the women's team artistic gymnastics competition during the Atlanta 1996 Olympics. How did they bring this show to the stage, and just what is "sports blue"? Find out on this episode!
Book Club Claire is back with our last selection for 2021: Off Balance: A Memoir by Dominique Moceanu, which a nice tie-in with our year-long look back at the Atlanta 1996 Olympics. Question is, how angry will Alison get this episode?
Women's gymnastics is one of the most popular Olympic events, but the way the sport evolved made it ripe for abuse and overtraining. Sports scholar and former international gymnast Georgia Cervin joins us to talk about her book, "Degrees of Difficulty: How Women’s Gymnastics Rose to Prominence and Fell From Grace" Just how did such a popular sport become such a welcome environment for abuse, and can today's gymnastic stars change their sport for the better?
Houry Gebeshian not only became Armenia's first female Olympic artistic gymnast, she also got a move named after her at the Rio 2016 Olympics! We talk about how she developed the Gebeshian, an uneven bars mount, as well as how she came to represent Armenia, and what it's like to be an Olympian from a country that doesn't have a lot of resources.
We're back in the gym with U.S. gymnast Jake Dalton, who tells us about his experiences at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympics. We also learn about the strategy involved in the gymnastics team competition.
Olympian Chellsie Memmel talks gymnastics with contributor Ben Jackson. She tells what it was like to be an alternate at the Athens 2004 Olympics, then competing while injured at Beijing 2008. Chellsie's still involved in the gymnastics world--including getting back into the sport as an adult. Plus, the USOPC has relaxed the restrictions on Rule 40. We try to make sense of them.